A Trip Of A Lifetime! Traveling America To See 50 States In 365 Days

Traveling America to see every state has always been at the tip-top portion of our lifetime bucket list. I mean the very tip-top.

As in the one thing we have always wanted to do together more than anything else.

Well – it is hard to believe, but its all about to become a reality next year!

There are so many beautiful sites to see all over the country!

And, by the way, we would love for you to help tell us what we need to see in your neck of the woods! ( More on that at the end of the article)

Traveling America. A Simple Living Tour To See It All!

With the release last week of our early retirement / reliving story, we promised a couple of big announcements in the coming weeks. (See : Reliving not Retiring)

And we are leading today with the biggest of them all. A 365 day trip in a teardrop camper to see all 50 states in a single year.

Life is short. Nothing is ever promised or guaranteed. You need to do, live and enjoy every moment while you can. And that is exactly why we want to do this trip now.

We will be traveling America state by state in a NuCamp Tab 400 Teardrop camper.

To sum it up – life is about experiences, not possessions. And we both want to create the memory of an amazing experience that will stay with us forever.

Why The Trip? – Why Not!

Above all else – this will be a trip about enjoying the sights, sounds and people of backyard America.

The plan is to spend around 1 week in every state. A bit less in some of the smaller states. A bit more in the larger ones. TO document it all, we will create a website dedicated to the trip with updates, stories and short videos along the way. More to come on that in the coming weeks.

And, while we are seeing amazing sights and meeting amazing people, it is our hope to accomplish a few additional goals.

The Goals:

(1) Visit as many of our followers as we can, and experience their gardens, communities, sights and sounds.

(2) Visit, tour and speak with as many private, public and community gardens as we can.

(3) Begin work on our next two books.

The order of the states we will visit. Where we start depends on the actual week we leave.

The first book is all about the trip itself. Following a dream to see all 50 states in a single year.

It will share the places, people and stories of the places we go.

The second book, and one we are equally excited about, is a book on backyard gardens and gardeners. It will chronicle the incredible people and gardens that exist all over back yard America.

Traveling America – The Trip Details

Upon retiring at the end of the year, our plan is to spend the coming spring, summer and early fall enjoying the farm.

We want to spend a little time next year enjoying the farm before taking off on the journey.

After being away for a year, we are anxious to garden, plant, build and have a little fun at the farm. That of course includes hosting some great Farm to Table dinners as well!

And then, in early fall, as the garden comes to a close for us – set out on our traveling America adventure.

The Route

We have planned the route carefully to hopefully put us in the best possible chance for favorable weather in each state. We also realize nothing is “perfect” – and we will simply roll with whatever comes our way.

With the dates for each state now set, once we finalize the official starting day, we will simply will drive to the state for that date – and begin the year long journey.

There are so many incredible gardens to see all over the country.

We will tour all 48 contiguous states in our NuCamp Tab 400 Trailer. (See : NuCamp)

For the final two weeks of the trip, we will fly to Alaska for 1 week, and then on to Hawaii for the last week to complete the trip.

Tell Us What To See!

We might know where we are going to be, but over the next 8 or 9 months, we need to fill in what we are going to see and do.

And we would love your help and suggestions for your community and state!

The west coast – can’t wait to drive along the shores and see the sites!

Yes, we certainly want to visit classic sites and attractions. The great redwood forests, Old Faithful, the Alamo and oh so many more.

But more than that, we want to see the hidden gems of backyard America.

Small quaint towns, a neat little farm, perhaps a classic hometown diner or hole-in-the wall restaurant that all the locals love. In addition, we want to see so many of the beautiful private and public gardens that dot the landscape of this incredible country.

So let us know where to go!

We are looking for help from you.

Email us today with your suggestions, comments, or ideas to thefarm@owgarden.com. We would love to have a couple of volunteer Ambassadors from each state that can help tell us where to go and what to see.

The Trip of a Lifetime!

And if you have a garden group and want us to speak – let us know that too. If we can make it work, we will. We love meeting fellow gardeners to talk gardening!

We hope to fill the schedule and see as many places and meet as many wonderful people as we can. After all, it is a trip of a lifetime, and we would love to share it with as many people as possible!

28 thoughts on “A Trip Of A Lifetime! Traveling America To See 50 States In 365 Days”

Mary! My mom, family and I would love to see you when you come to Maine. We live in southern Maine. Mom lives in Falmouth and my family and I live in South Portland. There are many family farms and community gardens to choose from, and we can definitely show you some amazing spots here in Maine, a.k.a. Vacationland, a.k.a. “The way life should be!” I am so excited for you!!

Georgia in spring time – Gibbs Gardens has a fabulous display of daffodils and the Atlanta Botanical Gardens has a stunning orchid collection and a tulip display. Both peak about the same time and are close together. We like to catch both in a weekend trip. Someone mentioned Callaway Gardens, I would not recommend it. Years ago, it was fabulous but has gone downhill, a bunch of the gardens are gone and the horticulture center is closed. Further south in Georgia is Okefenokee Swamp Park, if you are interested in swamp setting, go in the NPS entrance near Fargo and take the boat ride. The Georgia Coast is also not far from the swamp, Jekyll Island is nice as is Cumberland if you have time to plan a ferry ride over. Cumberland has wild horses, a private beach and is just beautiful. We also have lots of very nice state parks, they offer good camping for reasonable prices. Savannah would also be a highlight, it is beautiful in spring.

Depending where you enter an leave Oregon, as mentioned earlier the Columbia River gorge with Multnomah Falls a must see. If near central southern area, Crater Lake. Anywhere on the coast, but the southern part is the best, in my opinion.

How exciting! I look forward to your posts even more now! I would encourage you to slip into the Upper Peninsula of Michigan when you are in Wisconsin if you don’t come through via the Lower Peninsula. I am in Jackson, MI but I would say that the UP is worth the trip. We visit most every summer to cross the Mighty Mac (bridge), visit the island, and travel highway 2 across to Wisconsin.

When you come to Michigan you must go to Grand Rapids to check out the Fredrick Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park. They have several different types of gardens, including a lovely Japanese garden. The sculpture is amazing, especially the copy of Rodan’s Horse, which is absolutely huge. You can check out more about this wonderful place at http://www.meijergardens.org

Good luck on your wonderful trip! When you come to Michigan, you must go to the Frederick Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids! Though this is a commercial garden, it is soooooo great you really need to see it. You can check it out at http://www.meijergardens.org Among the sculptures is a copy of Rodan’s horse, and it is absolutely huge. They have several different type of gardens including a new wonderful Japaneses garden.

Oh how fun!! Blessings on your trip. I am a master gardener, a new permaculture designer and live in Michigan. Depending on when you come, there are many amazing places to visit. If you let me know when you are thinking of coming, I can let you know what cool things are happening on the west coast of Michigan. Sorry, I couldn’t enlarge your US map to see if you had dates on it. Have fun planning!

So happy for your opportunity to live your dream. We are tucked away in a historic but less known part of the state of Utah. We fell in love with our neck of the woods when we first came here to live, and oh, how I wish we could see you while you’re in our state! Some things can be difficult to grow here, particularly when the reservoirs are severely down as they were this year It would be great to learn how to deal with the strict watering restrictions/rationing we had during the summer. Blessings to you as you get your travel plans all finalized and enjoy your farm in the meantime. Sincerely, Linda Drury

So excited for y’all! Can’t wait to go along for the ride. Here are a few suggestions:

~In Central Florida, Bok Tower Sanctuary is a wonderful garden. I’d love for you to see my friend’s 7,000 square-foot container garden (all pesticide-free) right around the corner from Bok Tower.
~In Pineville, GA, Calloway Gardens is worth a visit.
~Here in the center part of North Carolina, you’d love Joel Stroot’s permaculture garden. He is creating a fantastic educational center on his property. You can see a feature of his farm on my blog.

I did something like this when I retired. I am a genealogy buff also, so that trip concentrated on seeing “cousins” I had met on the internet and doing research that was not available on the internet. I did not take a trailer with me. I drove a van and traveled only with my old pal, Morris, a 13 year old Lab. Most of the time we didn’t rent motels but stayed with these cousins and did local research with them. I visited 38 states in 15 months and it was one of the best experiences of my life. I didn’t see a lot of “must-see” places, but I gained a new understanding of the magnificence of this country and the people. I never once felt afraid. The few times I needed help, there was always someone there to help me.

visit SE Iowa & the Mississippi River see three states & two Rivers at the same time Also one of the great marvels of the USA the lock & dam built in the early 1900’s still in use today. Also west central IL home of the great Mormon Temple. If you are a rock collector we are the home of some the largest locations of Geodes. We love to see you in our area.

Would be wonderful if you were to include the Scenic Columbia River Gorge which takes in Oregon and Washington. Hood River, Oregon, Multnomah Falls, the fruit-growing area towards Mount Hood, and on the WA side, a trip up into the Gifford Pinchot National Forest to see the waterfalls on the Lewis River, the high mountain lakes like Goose, Council and Takhlakh. And then there’s our garden, which my sister and I created last season using your raised row system and which turned out beyond our wildest expectations. (we’re just now finishing ripening tomatoes, some of which had stake-a-cage support)

A must-see in St. Louis—-Missouri Botanical Gardens. World-renowned, amazing and gorgeous, something to see in every season. Check the website to plan your best time of year visit, but anytime (even winter) is great. And wear your walking shoes! It’s huge.

When you come to Washington state, a great quaint town is Sequim (SKWIM—like swim with a k in it). It is the lavender capital of the United States. The Strait of Juan de Fuca borders the north while the Olympic mountains border the south. There are many lavender farm, of course, but also many vegetable farms. So many places have there veggies, eggs, milk, or honey for sale on your honor. You take what you need and leave your money in a box or under a rock! Be careful if you come, this place is so special. Wouldn’t want you to get ‘bitten’ by the Pacific Northwest bug! Extremely difficult to stay away once you’ve been here!!

The Peace Gardens in North Dakota and Canada. Bring your passport or an enhanced drivers license and see both sides. In Minnesota check out the “head water of the Mississippi river and when you get to the Southern State where it flows into the Gulf. Have safe travels & God Bless.

Wow. That plan looks amazing & well thought out. And fun. Enjoy your adventure!! I’m in northeast Mississippi… we have the touristy sites like Elvis’s birthplace, but there are some amazing little towns all around. Also many Mennonite communities are open to visitors…think food & gardens. Just an idea.

When you are in North Carolina you may want to travel the Blue Ridge Parkway and see the Moses Cone mansion with a spectacular view near Blowing Rock. Also Linville Falls and Linville viaduct on the parkway. We also have the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden in Belmont just west of Charlotte.